Decathlon Quechua Men's Waterproof Walking Shoes (MH500) long-term review

If you walk as much as I do, you go through a lot of shoes. I’m not just talking about walking boots that I use for ‘proper’ hikes into the hills and mountains - as someone who talks about walking a lot, I (literally) walk the walk, and head everywhere I can by foot.

Which means I tend to go for a proper sturdy walking shoe as my everyday, go-to shoe. The last couple of pairs, from a couple of fairly big and popular brands had proved disappointing in terms of comfort, performance and longevity, and faced with the choice of either stepping a level up and hoping for better, or a level down, and accepting that the shoes were just going to be battered regardless and there was no point spending extra, I opted for the latter.

And this is how I ended up looking at a pair of MH500 waterproof walking shoes in Decathlon a year ago.

First Impressions

Stock photo of the Decathlon Men’s Waterproof MH500 Walking Shoes. Nice design, but the colour could do with jazzing up.

I was unsure about these shoes from the start. As someone who seems to have ended up with far too much grey in my outdoor wardrobe, I found the colours to be washed out and uninspiring. Even the lime green seems understated to the point of bland. Colours are subjective though - as much as they don’t work me, they could be the epitome of cool for someone else.

The second reason for my uncertainty was the sizing. Using Decathlon’s own sizing machine, I came out at a size 9 as expected, however the machine recommended that I needed a pair of MH500s in 8 1/2. I think the last time I wore size 8 1/2 shoes was when I forgot my football boots in PE 25 years ago and had to squeeze into a pair of Umbro Specialis from lost property, leaving me with blisters for weeks. I was about to grab the next size up when I noticed the blurb about the firm’s EVOFIT, assuring me that the shoe would ‘adapt to my foot’. I’d give size 8 1/2 a go.

The £59.99 price (at the time of purchase) is still a significant wad of cash for a lower-budget trainer, but with features such as Quechua’s proprietary ‘cross-contact’ grip, a full rubber rand, with reinforced toe and heel, plus a waterproof liner, the shoe seems to be pitching itself against rivals in the £90-£100 range. The shoe itself seems surprisingly well made - it might not be the prettiest thing in the world, but in the flesh, this comes across as a decent and sturdy bit of kit.

Living with the shoes

It turns out that I needn’t have worried about the sizing - after an initial tightness around the toes for the first few days, the shoe ‘evofitted’ as promised and I found them to comfortably encase my feet, whilst retaining a lot of flex. One year later, and they are honestly the comfiest pair of walking shoes I’ve had so far.

They’ve also worn remarkably well too. The perceived solid build quality has translated to a shoe that, after a year of abuse, is still in remarkable condition. Usual wear-areas around the sides of toe box, and the upper-midsole attachments are still in good shape, with no sign of failure. This is actually no surprise - Quechua have added reinforcement where it counts - the design is very well-thought out. A triumph in longevity.

The only wear that is immediately apparent is around the collar at the heel - laziness on my part in the past month or so when putting the shoes on has worn away the padding at the back, exposing the heel counter and causing a bit of rubbing. The lesson here: undo your laces before putting your shoes on. On closer inspection, there is also a little wear to the liner at the front-inner of the heel, and some cracking on rubber of the front rand, but to put into context, most shoes I have worn this much have usually fallen to pieces by now.

Well-worn, but surprisingly intact MH500 Walking Shoes after a year of heavy use

It is worth mentioning that these shoes are covered by Decathlon’s 2-year own-brand warranty - I think I’d have a hard time convincing them that the condition of my shoes is down to bad workmanship rather than wear and tear, but it’s good to know you’re covered if you do have a genuine problem.

So what are they like in action?

Around town and in the park, they deal with all four seasons very well. I’m always a bit sceptical when I see the words ‘waterproof’ and ‘trainer’ lumped together, so I would never expect these to survive being submerged to the ankle, but on wet paths in torrential rain, my feet were fine and dry. They are light and flexible, and nicely padded. You put them on, you forget you’re wearing them - surely the sign of a great shoe?

Heading out into hills, they again cope with trails very well indeed, however their lightness and flexibility becomes more of a liability as the terrain becomes rockier. I am a big believer that the benefit of a walking boot over a shoe in hilly and mountainous terrain is less about the ankle support (though this does help) and more about the rigidity of the sole. Firmer-soled boots help you to glide over jagged rocks relatively easily, whilst walking shoes need a lot more careful foot placement and can’t protect your feet from a rocky underfoot quite as well. I probably wouldn’t want to embark on hikes such as the Yorkshire Three Peaks wearing these, but for mid-distance trails, these will serve you well.

I’m a big fan of Vibram grips, and the ‘Cross Contact’ grip used by these shoes was a bit of an unknown. However, I found the grip never let me down - I perhaps didn’t have quite as much confidence in them as I would have had with Vibram soles, but this could have all been in my head. I probably wouldn’t want to take on any serious scrambles in these, or dance on wet, sloped limestone, but the grip has certainly exceeded my expectations. It has also been fairly hard-wearing, certainly more so than what you’d get from Vibrams.

The sole of the Decathlon MH500 Walking Shoes has worn well, whilst providing decent grip

Conclusion

Every so often you own something really good, that exceeds your expectations - the sort of thing where, years after it has gone, you’ll see the same product out in the wild, and reminisce about how good it was to whoever will listen.

I’m not likely to get misty-eyed about these shoes in the coming years, but I will miss them, and they’ve definitely set the bar high for whatever they are replaced with (which might yet be another pair, especially if they replace the grey and lime green with a lovely black and red).

All in all, these are really solid, comfy and competent walking shoes, ideal for every-day wear, but capable of handling lighter hilly adventures - highly recommended

Pros:

• Good value

• Durable and hard-wearing

• Well-designed

• Comfortable

• Light

Cons:

• Uninspiring colour-scheme

• Slightly odd sizing

Rating: 5/5

The Men’s waterproof walking shoes (MH500) are available to buy here.